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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28251270">no chance</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/adhdsoras/pseuds/adhdsoras'>adhdsoras</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Death, Character Study, Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Murder</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:56:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,190</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28251270</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/adhdsoras/pseuds/adhdsoras</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A small character study that I wrote about Mercury and his childhood.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>no chance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The air was crisp with spring, freshly escaping the snow of winter, returning to life. The sun rose gently over the horizon as Mercury stood on his front porch, attempting to tie his shoelaces before heading to the farmers market with his mother. Mercury was five, barely reaching above his mother's knees, his unruly silver hair pressed down by the hat that his mother gingerly offered him. The morning sun was cool against his skin, nipping at his exposed elbows. </p><p>These were one of those rare, freeing moments. His father, Marcus, was out on a mission, leaving him and his mother alone for the day. He could feel the liberation rush through him, the way it made his leg bounce as he stood in place. </p><p>Excitement pumped through him as he descended down the creaky steps, his boots pounding against the gravel, kicking up rocks in his wake. His mother walked sluggishly behind him, her eyes slowly following his small form, the woven basket that she carried swinging at her side. </p><p>The trail through the woods to the neighboring town was long, the path shifting from gravel to dirt the longer that they moved along it. He had always loved the forest - it was so calm and empty, despite the risk of Grimm he enjoyed the way that trees entangled with one another, their close proximity. Mercury slowed on occasion, looking back to see the blurred form of his mother through the twists and the turns of the forest. He would summon the image of his father to cause himself to still, to wait, thinking of how his father would shout, the echoing of broken plates shattering against his ear. It was the only thing that could stop him in his tracks, freezing him in place. She would approach and stop by his side, standing in silence for a few moments, not a word passed to one another. The chirping of birds, the echoing of the wind rustling through the leaves of the trees, filling in the gaps of silence. </p><p>Mercury didn't love his mother, but maybe he should have. Maybe he should have cared about her more when she was the one who would tuck him in at night with scarce hands. Maybe her death should have filled him with grief rather than the raw, chilling ache that affected his throat, the bile that had worked its way from his stomach. He didn't fear her like he had feared his father, and that was all he knew. </p><p>They'd made it to the town by late morning, the sun peaking a quarter way through the sky as they pushed through the last set of trees and into the small, quaint town in front of them. Mercury once again slowed, but kept his pace permanent, sticking only slightly ahead of his mother despite the adrenaline that rushed through him. His mother didn't take his hand, and he didn't wrap his hand around her pinky as most children would. There was distance, purposeful, and true.</p><p>Most of the day was a blur past that point. He remembered the rejection of physical contact, the smell of freshly baked bread that he wanted to eat more than anything in his life. Images of his mother's boney hands picking up an apple, the stiff tone of her voice as she asked the cost. Mercury remembered watching as other children ran through the streets, chasing one another, their screams and laughter filling the air. He remembered the way that the sound had struck within him, the way that it had sunken into the very core of his being, and realized that he was surrounded by that sound. Laughter, hollering, cheers of joy filled his ears and the apparitions of smiles were all around him. Mercury remembered how he had never heard or seen anything like it. Happiness, a new word in his vocabulary, something that he had never felt before. </p><p>One of the kids running through the market met his eyes, a toy pressed tightly in their grip, their smile wrinkling their eyes as they bolted through adults as they walked. Mercury felt the urge to move, to run. He wanted to laugh like them, to smile as they did, the kind of smiles that brought out dimples and creased the side of their mouths. He wanted to smile until his cheeks hurt, to feel his breath escape from his lungs because of his laughter.</p><p>Mercury did not move. He stood with the shadow of his father breathing down his neck and his stagnant mother standing feet away at his right. </p><p>It clicked, then and there, inside of him. He could feel it rush through his bones as his blood turned cold and shivers raced through his legs and up his body. Mercury felt it run through him as his lungs stopped taking in breaths, his mind repeating a single thought.</p><p>Happiness wasn't built in his shape.</p><p>He would never be happy in his life. </p><p>They came back home to his father and it confirmed his thought as he watched Marcus Black move through the living room, his shoulders squared and his back hunched. He felt the knowledge sink into his skin as the slap connected against his mother's cheek. He felt it vibrate through his very being as her body collided with the earth and she started gasping for air, blood soaking into the wooden tiles. </p><p>There are few things that Mercury considers to be divine knowledge, but he knew one thing - when his mother died, his hope died with her. </p><p> </p><p>Mercury had never felt more alive in his life than he did now - staring down at his father's corpse, the amber lighting of the fire painting him in orangish hues. He felt a sensation bubble up in his chest, encapsulating his body as he turned to start his way towards the village, the one with the farmers market and the tiny bakery. The one with the brick pathways and the tiny, crumbling fountain in the town square. It was euphoria, relief, that crept through him. A sensation that had never belonged to him before. He felt it burn through him, ignoring the aching in his ribs and the laboring of his breath. </p><p>A fresh start was in front of him - what would he do with it?</p><p>It didn’t matter that his father stripped him of his pride, his self-worth, his semblance, or even his legs. He was dead, and that was enough to bring Mercury comfort as he stumbled over to the pathway just at the neck of woods.</p><p>His relief was crushed when he turned to see two faces peering back at him. The adrenaline high flatlining as he became increasingly aware of his legs and the numbness that shot through them. The pain that planted itself in his knees, the way that it hurt to move as he stumbled forward slightly. </p><p>Mercury didn't have time to plan his new life, to process what he had truly done, before he found himself sitting next to a campfire in a small clearing with a green-haired girl who clearly wanted nothing to do with him. </p>
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